Hawaii County, Hawaii facts for kids

Hawaii County
	Quick facts for kidsHawaii County, Hawaii
	Map
	; Location in the state of Hawaii
	; Hawaii's location in the U.S.
	Statistics
Founded	1905
Seat	Hilo
Largest City	Hilo
Area; - Total; - Land; - Water	; 5,086.70 sq mi (13,174 km²); 4,028.02 sq mi (10,433 km²); 1,058.69 sq mi (2,742 km²), ?%
PopulationEst.; - (2015); - Density	; 196,428; 46/sq mi (17.7/km²)
Time zone	Hawaii-Aleutian time zone: UTC-10
	Website: co.hawaii.hi.us

Hawaiʻi County is a county located in the U.S. state of Hawaii in the Hawaiian Islands. It is coterminous with the Island of Hawaiʻi, often called the "Big Island" to distinguish it from the state as a whole. As of the 2010 Census the population was 185,079. The county seat is Hilo. There are no incorporated cities in Hawaiʻi County (see Hawaii Counties). The Hilo Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Hawaiʻi County. Hawaiʻi County has a mayor-council form of government. Hawaii County is the largest county in the state, in terms of geography.

The current Mayor of Hawaii County is Harry Kim, who took office in 2016. Legislative authority is vested in a nine-member Hawaii County Council.

Hawaii County is one of seven counties in the United States to share the same name as the state they are located in (the other six counties are Arkansas County, Idaho County, Iowa County, New York County, Oklahoma County, and Utah County).

Geography

Hawaiʻi County has a total area of 5,086.70 square miles (13,174.5 km²); 4,028.02 square miles (10,432.5 km²) is land and 1,058.69 square miles (2,742.0 km²) is water (mostly all off the ocean shoreline but counted in the total area by the U.S. Census Bureau). The county's land area comprises 62.7 percent of the state's land area. It is the highest percentage by any county in the United States. (Delaware's Sussex County comes in second at 48.0 percent, while Rhode Island's Providence County is third at 39.55 percent.)

Major Highways

Route 11
Route 19
Route 130
Route 132
Route 137
Route 190
Route 200
Route 250
Route 270
Route 2000

Adjacent counties

Maui County - northwest

Demographics

Lehua blossoms (ʻōhiʻa lehua), Hawaiʻi

Green turtle on an old lava flow and Hawaiian temple at background in Kona

As of 2010^[update], the island had a resident population of 185,079 There were 64,382 households residing in the county. The population density was 17.7/km² (45.9/mi²). There were 82,324 housing units at an average density of 8/km² (20/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 34.5% White, 0.7% African American, 22.6% Asian, 12.4% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, and 29.2% from two or more races; 11.8% of the population were Hispanics or Latinos of any race.

Localities

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1900	46,843	—
1910	55,382	18.2%
1920	64,895	17.2%
1930	73,325	13.0%
1940	73,276	−0.1%
1950	68,350	−6.7%
1960	61,332	−10.3%
1970	63,468	3.5%
1980	92,053	45.0%
1990	120,317	30.7%
2000	148,677	23.6%
2010	185,079	24.5%
Est. 2015	196,428	6.1%
U.S. Decennial Census Historical Population 1900-90